http://yahadot.blogspot.com/2011/07/are-african-americans-lost-tribes.html
Joseph, the son of Israel, was described in a Midrash (Genesis Rabah 86;3), as looking like a GERMANI (i.e. like someone from the North, very white, fair, according to Maimonides) and in another passage (Talmud Sota 36) as having a face that was "pink like a rose".
One Midrash says that amongst the Tribes of Simeon and Levi very light-colored types (bohakanim) were common. On the other hand, a Talmudic Mishna (Negaim 2;1) says that Israelites (meaning in this case, the Jews of Judah) are mainly of an intermediate type coloring being neither black like a "Cushi" (Negro) nor light like a "Germani".
Andree ("Zur Volkskunde der Juden," pp. 34-40) points out that the fact that red and blond Jews are found in North Africa, Syria, Arabia, Persia, etc., is proof that intermarriage has had little to do with the production of the blond type in eastern Europe. He is of the opinion that there were blondes among the ancient Hebrews, and that the modern red and blond Jews are their descendants.
Red hair is also fairly common amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations, possibly because of the influx of European DNA over a period of centuries, or in the original founding of their communities in Europe, although both Esau and David are described in the Bible as red-haired. In European culture, prior to the 20th century, red hair was often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait: during the Spanish Inquisition, all those with red hair were identified as Jewish. In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, and Judas was traditionally depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.Writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair.The stereotype that red hair is Jewish remains in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia.
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Mosaic found in the Dura europos Synagogue.
The Israelites of old were regarded by the Egyptians as people from the land of Amurru, meaning “the land of the Amorites” which the Israelites had conquered. Another term applied to the general Syrian area was Retenu. The name “Upper Retenu” corresponded to the geographical space encompassed by the Land of Israel, according to the Bible. People from the area known as Amurru or Retenu after 1400 BC were Israelites. They are depicted on Egyptian monuments as red, blond, or black-haired with frequent blue eyes and red beards. Illustrations of individuals with this appearance are automatically assumed to pertain to the Israelite or Syrian area.
Another blond blue-eyed people depicted on Egyptian monuments were the so-called “Libyans” and it has now been shown by Alessandra Nibbi that these were not dwellers of “Libya” but rather of the Nile Delta and of Hebrew origin (Nibbi, A (1989) Canaan And Canaanite in Ancient Egypt).
On the Egyptian pictures skins of individuals from the Israelite or Syrian area are often light colored and rosy (Godbey, Allen H. (1930) The Lost Tribes a Myth, Durham, U.S.A., p. 83).
David, King of Israel, was also described as אדמוני, admoni (1 Samuel 16:12; 1 Samuel 17:42), as was his son, King Solomon who was described as צח ואדום, tzach v'adom “white and ruddy” (Song of Songs 5:10). Further, in Lamentations 5:7, the Nazarites are described as צחו מחלב אדמו עצם מפנינים ספיר גזרתם, Tzachu mechlav ademu etzem mippeninim gizratam sappir “whiter than snow, purer than milk, more ruddy than the old ivory, fairer than the sapphire.”
What of yemeni jews?
Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad (Abu Kariba) was the Himyarite king of Yemen. He ruled Yemen from 390--420 CE.[2] Abu Kariba is commonly cited as the first of several kings of Arabia to convert to Judaism.The Jews of Yathrib fought alongside their pagan Arab neighbors, trying to protect their town. During the siege, Abu Kariba fell ill. Two local Jewish scholars, named Kaab and Assad, took the opportunity to travel to his camp, and persuaded him to lift the siege.[9] The scholars also inspired in the King an interest in Judaism, and he converted in 390, persuading his army to do likewise.Kaab and Assad later returned with Abu Kariba to his kingdom, where they were tasked with converting the population. However, while some scholars say the population converted on a wholesale basis,[11] others opine that only about half became converts, the rest maintaining their pagan beliefs and temples.[1]
